For more than a decade, the Explaining History Podcast has helped listeners around the world make sense of modern history. What began in 2012 as a simple experiment—short, accessible episodes explaining major historical events—has grown into a long-running library of carefully researched, thoughtful explorations of the 20th and 21st centuries.
This page introduces new listeners to the podcast, explains what makes it different from other history shows, and offers curated paths into more than a thousand episodes.
If you’re searching for a history podcast that goes deeper than anecdotes or trivia, this is where to begin.
Fascism, Austerity, and the Class War in 1920s Italy – Explaining History
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Liverpool has always been a city apart. Perched on the edge of the Irish Sea, looking out towards America and the wider world, it has often felt less like a provincial English city and more like a maritime city-state. In this week’s podcast, I sat down with David Swift to discuss his new book, A Scouse Republic. We explored the deep roots of Liverpool’s unique identity—an identity that is fierce, political, and distinct from the rest of the UK.
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In an age of Amazon recommendations and #BookTok, it is hard to imagine a time when discovering a new book was a curated, communal experience guided by a panel of experts. Yet, for much of the mid-20th century, that is exactly what the Book Society provided for thousands of readers across Britain and its empire.
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When we think of the revolutions that shaped the 20th century, our minds naturally drift to 1917. The collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the rise of the Bolsheviks is the central drama of modern history. However, almost a decade earlier, another great empire underwent a convulsion that was just as significant for the future of the Middle East and Europe.
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The collapse of the Third Republic in June 1940 was a political decision, not just a military outcome. Divided between “Resisters” led by Paul Reynaud, who wished to continue the war from North Africa, and “Armistice” advocates led by Marshal Pétain, the government ultimately chose to seek terms with Germany. This choice was driven by a military leadership that feared internal social disorder more than occupation and a conservative elite who viewed the defeat as an opportunity for an authoritarian “National Revolution.” The resignation of Reynaud and the National Assembly’s vote to grant Pétain full powers marked the legal end…
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The German breakthrough in the Ardennes in May 1940 was not a result of a lack of intelligence, but a catastrophic failure of analysis driven by cognitive dissonance. French military doctrine deemed the Ardennes “impassable” for tanks, leading the High Command to dismiss ample evidence—including aerial reconnaissance and warnings from Swiss intelligence—that the Germans were massing there. Trapped by “confirmation bias,” General Gamelin interpreted German moves as feints, focusing his attention on the diversionary attack in Belgium. This intellectual rigidity allowed the Wehrmacht to execute a high-risk logistical gamble, pushing huge armored columns through narrow roads unopposed, turning a geographical…
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Key History Topics
Global History: Key Topics
- The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism
- The Partition of India
- The Great Depression and the Collapse of Global Trade
- The Cultural Revolution in China
- The Mexican Revolution
- The Creation of the United Nations
- The Iranian Revolution
- The Marshall Plan and the Reconstruction of Europe
- The First Indochina War
- The Global Anti Apartheid Movement
- The Holocaust: Bureacracy and Genocide
- Korea: War, Division, Development
- Operation Condor
- The Bandung Conference
- The Rwandan Genocide
- Stalin and the transformation of the USSR 1924-41
- Pakistan from Independence to Belt and Road
- The Civil Rights Movement
- The 1911 Revolution and the fall of the Qing dynasty
- Watergate and Nixon’s Legacy
- The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and Its Aftermath
- Ghana’s Independence and the ‘Year of Africa’
- The West German Republic: From Ruins to Reunification
- The Space Race and the Cold War
- Bangladesh war of Liberation
- The Sykes Picot Agreement and the conquest of the Middle East
- The Collapse of Yugoslavia
- Deng Xiaoping and the transformation of China
- The Fall of France, 1940